Hulls in water craft

ABSTRACT

A unique hull of essentially three parallel compartments held together into a single pontoon member is disclosed. The central compartment or section is shaped to accomodate a propeller shaft as well as a well or depression suitable in shape for sailing gear, seating or rowing while the outer two compartments act as floatation chambers and respectively the starboard and port portions of the hull.

United States Patent Sessions [451 Dec. 5, 1972 154] HULLS IN WATER CRAFT [72] Inventor: Donald W. Sessions, White Horses,

Kingston Gorse, Sea Lane, Angmering-on-Sea, England [22] Filed: Jan. 11, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 105,211

H521 US. Cl ..9/2 S [51 Int. Cl. ..B63b 7/04 [58] Field of Search ..9/2 R, 2 S, 6, 1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,495,412 1/1950 Gouge ..9/2 C X 2,544,599 3/1951 Keelen ..9/1 R 3,538,877 11/1970 Moore ..9/2 S Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Carl A. Rutledge Attorney-Philip T. Mitches [57] ABSTRACT A unique hull of essentially three parallel compartments held together into a single pontoon member is disclosed. The central compartment or section is shaped to accomodate a propeller shaft as well as a well or depression suitable in shape for sailing gear, seating or rowing while the outer two compartments act as floatation chambers and respectively the starboard and port portions of the hull.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDDEI: 5 m2 SHEET 2 (If 3 Mil/Am R T N R PAIENTED nEc 51912 SHEEI 3 BF '3 BULLS IN WATER CRAFT This invention relates to hulls suitable for watercraft.

According to the present invention there is provided a hull comprising a central hollow section having an endless rim at each side, and two hollow side sections having endless rims matching the rims of the central section, two plates one between each side section and the central section and engaging the adjacent rims and fixed thereto so that the three sections form a single rigid hull structure.

The side sections may be of similar shape to each other having a V-shaped cross-section and outwardly extending flanges around their rims matching similar flanges around the rims on the central section. The rims can be secured to the plates by adhesive, bolting or welding.

The central section may have a forward part having a transverse section in the form of upper and lower plates connected with a bifurcated rear portion, the furcations being closed adjacent each other by walls that are spaced apart to accommodate a propeller shaft each endless rim extending around both forward the rearward parts.

The hull is specially suitable for the hull of a power driven watercraft although it may easily be converted for use as a sailing boat. A constructional form of such a hull will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a hull with watercraft propeller equipment made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation thereof with a side section of the hull removed;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the hull taken along the line A-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the hull.

The hull or pontoon is moulded in fiber-glass material in three sections 10, ll, 12. The two side sections l0, 12 are identical and boat shaped i.e. of approximately V-shaped cross-section, with their open sides towards the central section 11. The open sides have endless rims l4, l5 furnished with endless outwardly directed flanges l6, 17.

The central section 11 has a forward part the section of which shows only upper and lower plates, and a rearward bifurcated part, the furcations l8, 19 of which are spaced apart to form an opening or slot 20. The sides of the central section have endless rims and flanges 21, 22 matching the flanges l6, l7. Plates or boards 24, 25 serving as bulkheads and made of plywood, aluminum or other stiff material are of the same contour as the flanges and are located one between each side section and the central section. The flanges are secured to the plates, e.g., by adhesive, rivetting, welding or bolting to form the complete hull which has three hollow box sections.

The pontoon has a continuous flange around its perimeter which in turn provides stiff anchorage for a power pack and other metal fittings without disturbing the air tightness of the pontoon itself. The joining of the three pontoon sections together with the bulkheads provide three separate watertight compartments for added safety. The center pontoon section is moulded to provide a depression or well 27. The narrow slot which extends to the aft end of the pontoon to permit the vertical movement of a propeller shaft when this is retracted thereby retaining the watertightness of this section. The top deck of section 11 may be formed to provide alternative shapes or depressions suitable for sailing gear, seating, or rowing.

A preferred constructional arrangement of a propeller with drive and mounting means for a watercraft for use with the hull of this invention will be described.

A tubular beam 29 is secured to the pontoon flanges at 34 and 35 above the deck depression 27 and has adjustable brackets 40 and 41 which support a trunnion mounted right angle drive gear box 42. A transverse input shaft 43 extends from the gear box to which is sideably mounted a chain sprocket or belt pulley 44 which may be adjusted to line up with a similar sprocket or pulley 45 mounted on a power pack shaft 46. The gear box output shaft is coupled to a propeller shaft 47 to the outer end of which is fitted a propeller 48. Propeller shaft 47 is enclosed by a torque tube 49 rigidly secured to the gear box and having a shaft bearing 50 at its lower end. The torque tube 49 passes through and is secured to a rectangular tubular beam 51 at 52 and also at 53 by a skeg plate 54 to form a rigid assembly. Beam 51 is arranged to fit snugly into the pontoon slot 20 to maintain the underwater contour of the pontoon. At the outer end of beam 51 is mounted a rudder and pintal 55 which is rotated by pulley 57 and endless cable 58 extending above beam 51 and torque tube 49 and lying within the pontoon slot 20 to guiding pulleys 59 and thence to pulley 60 mounted by adjustable bracket to a steering spindle 61 or other prime stearing means if the power pack is not utilized. A pressure plate 56 is secured to the beam 51. To retract the propeller and rudder assembly to a point above the bottom contour of the pontoon, the tubular beam 62 is secured to the pontoon flanges 16, 21 and 22, 17 to which shaft 63 is rotatably mounted in lugs 64 and quadrant plate 65. Hand lever 66 secured to the end of shaft 63 rotates the shaft and pawl 67 to locking position 68. The tubular lever arm 69 is secured to shaft 63 at 70 and transmits the hand lever movement to beam 51 through swing links 71. Lever stop 72 adjusts level of beam 51 to pontoon bottom. Adjustable brackets 74 bolted to pontoon flanges secure the power pack in position on the pontoon. The adjustable eye bolts 73 connect with power pack anchorage lugs and provide means for vertical adjustment of the power pack.

What we claim is:

l. A hull comprising a central hollow section having an endless rim at each side, two hollow side sections having endless rims matching the rims of the central sections, and two plates, one between each side section and the central section and engaging the adjacent rims and fixed thereto so that three sections form a rigid hull construction, the said side sections being of similar shape to each other having a V shaped cross section, and outwardly extending flanges around their rims matching similar flanges provided around the rims on the central section, so as to provide stiff anchorage for a power pack and other metal fittings without disturbing the air tightness of the hull itself.

2. A hull as claimed in claim 1, wherein the central section has forward portion having a transverse section in the form of upper and lower plates connected with a bifurcated rear portion, the rear portion having furcations that are closed adjacent each other by walls that are spaced apart to accommodate a propeller shaft, wherein each endless rim extends around both forward and rear portions.

3. A hull as claimed in claim 2, wherein the walls of the central section are spaced apart to form a slot which extends to the aft of the hull so as to permit vertical movement of the propeller shaft when it is retracted and thereby retain watertightness of the section.

4. A hull as claimed in claim 2, wherein the upper i t I 

1. A hull comprising a central hollow section having an endless rim at each side, two hollow side sections having endless rims matching the rims of the central sections, and two plates, one between each side section and the central section and engaging the adjacent rims and fixed thereto so that three sections form a rigid hull construction, the said side sections being of similar shape to each other having a V shaped cross section, and outwardly extending flanges around their rims matching similar flanges provided around the rims on the central section, so as to provide stiff anchorage for a power pack and other metal fittings without disturbing the air tightness of the hull itself.
 2. A hull as claimed in claim 1, wherein the central section has forward portion having a transverse section in the form of upper and lower plates connected with a bifurcated rear portion, the rear portion having furcations that are closed adjacent each other by walls that are spaced apart to accommodate a propeller shaft, wherein each endless rim extends around both forward and rear portions.
 3. A hull as claimed in claim 2, wherein the walls of the central section are spaced apart to form a slot which extends to the aft of the hull so as to permit vertical movement of the propeller shaft when it is retracted and thereby retain watertightness of the section.
 4. A hull as claimed in claim 2, wherein the upper plate of the central section is provided with a well or depression which is arranged to form a suitable shape for sailing gear, seating or rowing.
 5. A hull as claimed in claim 3, wherein the upper plate of the central section is provided with a well or depression which is arranged to form a suitable shape for sailing gear, seating or rowing.
 6. A hull as claimed in claim 4 wherein the central section and two side sections are made from fiberglass material. 